Before the Oregon Ducks begin their journey in the Big Ten they have one more chance to extend their legacy as a member of the Pac-12. And it might be a good idea to stay focused on football in 2023 instead of beyond since the Ducks are loaded for another run. Last season had its ups and downs with nine regular season wins and a Holiday Bowl victory over North Carolina. We also saw how big the gap between OU and national champion Georgia was. The Ducks got plastered, 49-3, in the 2022 opener only to reel off eight straight wins. Setbacks to Washington and Oregon State late in the season prevented the Ducks from reaching the Pac-12 title game and possibly the CFP.
College Football Season Wins Odds
Regular Season Wins for the Oregon Ducks
Over 9.5 ( +108 )
Under 9.5 ( -124 )
If you want to compete for national titles I guess you should get people that know a few things about doing that. After three years as defensive coordinator at Georgia, Lanning was hired for his first head gig in 2022. He guided the Ducks to a 10-3 overall record with the program hitting double digits for the third time in as many full seasons. Oddsmakers set the win total at 9.5 with the UNDER juiced to -124.
Roster
The Ducks will lament the end to last season with losses to Washington and rival OSU ruining their chance at a conference title and CFP berth. The club squandered a late lead to the Huskies after Bo Nix sustained an ankle injury. They recovered to beat eventual Pac-12 champ Utah the following week but lost the regular season finale Civil War matchup in Corvallis. Winning 10 games including the Holiday Bowl was nice, but the Ducks were saying “what if?” when it was all over.
Bo Nix put together a season worthy of Heisman recognition and elected to return for another crack. The Ducks ranked fourth in the Pac-12 in both total offense (500.5 ypg) and scoring (38.8 ppg) with Nix doing plenty of damage. He threw for 3,593 yards and 29 TDs while completing 72 percent of his passes with only seven interceptions. With Nix and leading rushers Bucky Irving and Noah Whittington back the Ducks should again put up big numbers. The backs combined for 1,838 rushing yards and 10 TDs while averaging over 6.2 yards per tote.
Play-making transfers Traeshon Holden and Tez Johnson join last year’s leading receiver Troy Franklin to sustain a passing attack that averaged 284.8 yards. With everything in place the only question is the line. Four starters from a group that allowed the fewest sacks in the FBS need to be replaced. Nix had a lot to do with that stat displaying his elusiveness while running for 510 yards and 14 scores. But really, the group needs retooling and Lanning is hoping to strike it rich in the portal again adding a few ready-made starters.
After their shellacking in the opener the defense settled down and was good. Lanning, who constructed some of the best stop units in college football while at Georgia, will continue to have a say in what the group does and getting to the opposing quarterback is one thing he’s preaching after placing 115th in the country with just 18 sacks. The portal was busy on this side of the ball with pass rusher Jordan Burch a big get to go along with all-conference performer Brandon Dorlus. Iowa transfer Justin Jacobs can be a terror if he stays healthy. In all, the group is deeper with as much talent as last year.
Schedule
They don’t open with Georgia like they did last year, but the matchup at Texas Tech in Week 2 is huge for investors. In order to cash the OVER on the win total the Ducks likely have to win two of the three conference matchups with Washington, Utah and USC while avoiding another head scratching loss. And you know the Beavers will be geeked to win what could be the final Civil War game for a while. If they get by what’s expected to be a good Red Raiders squad Oregon could be 5-0 heading into their showdown with U-Dub on Oct. 14.
Prediction
There are plenty of pieces in place but a lot of moving part after liberal use of the portal. And we saw what happens if Nix gets banged up. When looking at the schedule I see five potential losses with three of those games on the road. The team could shock me, but winning 10 regular season games is asking too much, so I’m backing the UNDER.
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